In a hybrid electric vehicle or an electric vehicle, a high-voltage battery is mounted as a drive source for an electric motor. In recent years, it has been under study to dispose a high-voltage battery within a passenger compartment, and battery installation mechanisms have been proposed in which a high-voltage battery is disposed between a pair of seats which are aligned side by side in a left-right or transverse direction of a vehicle (for example, refer to Patent Literature 1). In the event that high-voltage electric equipment such as a high-voltage battery is disposed in a center console in the way described above, there are fears that noise generated from the high-voltage electric equipment is transmitted to a passenger.
In Patent Literature 1, an inner case making up a flow path of air which cools a battery is provided in an interior of a center console, and a noise absorbing material is provided on an interior surface of the inner case which lies opposite to an air intake port, whereby the generation of noise from high-voltage electric equipment is suppressed.
Additionally, in Patent Literature 2, a sheet-like soundproofing member is disposed between a high-voltage device which is disposed on a back side of a seat back and a storage portion of the seat back, whereby noise generated at the high-voltage device is prevented from being transmitted to a passenger.